Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com

SOLITARY MOON RITE
By: Ellen Reed, Coven of Sothistar
This rite may be used for either New or Full Moon. The difference is
in your meditation and mental attitude in preparation. Remember that
the New Moon is a time of outward work and thought, building to the
peak which is the Full Moon. At the Full Moon, you should be prepar-
ing to lessen the outward flow of energy, bit by bit, until the period
before New Mo on, during which you are passive, building a pool of
energy within you, in preparation for the New Moon.
The altar should be placed in the center of the ritual area. On it
should be placed a rose or stick of incense on the eastern side, a red
votive candle to the South; a cup of water on the West, and a bowl of
salt or living plant on the North.
Around your ritual area, you should place an unlighted candle at the
cardinal point of each direction.
To begin your rite, enter your darkened temple, carrying one burning
candle, white or lavender, with you. Place it on the center of your
altar, sit, and meditate on the meaning of the rite. When you feel
the time is right, stand, and go to the eastern point, carrying with
you, the burning taper. Light the votive at the eastern point and go
to the southern, picturing, as you do, an arc of pure strong light
curving from one candle to the next. Continue to the West, and then
to the North, lighting the candles as you go, and then walk to your
eastern candle again, having formed a circle of pro tective light
surrounding the area in which you worship.
Return to the center of the circle, replace the candle on the altar,
and say:
My Lady of the Moon, who is called Diana, Artemis, Levanah, Isis and
by any other names, I come to you to bring you my love and my devo-
tion. May you grant me the joy of your presence.
Mentally divide the room into four quadrants by visualizing a line of
silvery moonlight from the southeast to the northw est, and from the
northeast to the southwest. Go the East, taking with you the rose or
incense. Say:
Sweet Goddess, the gentle breeze is the touch of your loving hand, the
wind of storm a reminder of your strength. The s ound of the trees in
the wind is your voice, and the fragrance of flowers borne on the wind
is your gift of beauty.
Place the rose next to the votive candle, then stand there as you
picture the quadrant filling with moonlight. See the moonlight
streaming quietly and gently into the room, filling the quadrant
from center point to the edge of your circle.
When this is complete, take the red candle to the South. Place the
gift and see the quadrant fill with moonlight. Say:
Most loved Lady, the light of the candle is a guide along our path
leading to you; its warmth the reassurance of your presence and your
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love. The light of the Sun is the knowledge you impart to us, driving
out ignorance and those things which can survive only in darkness.
At the West:
Lovely One, the quiet pool is the serenity of your being. The vast
sea where life began on this planet is the vast sea of your being
whence all life came; its waves are the ebb and flow of the universe
you rule.
At the North:
Goddess of all, the fertility of the earth is a sign of your fer-
tility, whence all life rose. The solidity and permanence are still
of it are still less than yours. The Earth's fertility feeds our
bodies, and your fertility feeds our souls.
Go to the center of your temple, which is now filled with moonlight.
Everything in the circle is touched by it, blessed by it, including
you. Sit down and feel this moonlight around you. Know that it is
the Goddess. Realize that you are in the center of a sphere of light
that is half above and half above and half below where you sit. Begin
to breathe slowly and evenly, deep breaths that penetrate your whole
body. When this rhythmic breathing becomes natural, imagine that the
moonlight by which you are surrounded enters you, fills you entirely.
With each exhalation of your breath, some of the essence of yourself
leaves your body, and with each inhalation, the light enters you. You
are being filled ever so gently with this beautiful light. This
light, which is the presence, the being of the Goddess, is within you
as well as without. With each breath, you are less yourself and more
the Goddess.
When you are filled with light, filled with the Goddess, the shell of
your body fades away. You have no body; there is nothing to separate
you from the entire being of the Goddess. Nothing exists but the
being of which you are apart. You have ceased to be a separate
entity. You are nothing and everything. All that was, that is, and
all that will be, you are.
Enjoy this feeling as long as you like. When you feel it is time,
picture the outer shell of your physical body reformi ng, becoming
solid again. It is being built out of the Universe of which you are a
part.
Now, as you continue your slow deep breathing, see the moonlight
flowing out of your body, as gently and slowly as it entered. As it
flows out, realize there is a difference. Because you have become one
with the Goddess, with the Universe, your being has changed. As the
moonlight flows out of your body, it takes with it a part of that
which was yourself, now part of the Goddess, and leaves behind a part
of the Goddess, forever now part of you. You become yourself again,
solid as you were, but changed. You are surrounded by the presence of
the Goddess, which now contains a part of yourself .
Move again to the East. As you speak, and after, picture the moon-
light in that quadrant flowing back to its source, lea ving that
quadrant as it was.
Do this at each quadrant, until all the moonlight has returned to the
Moon.
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At the East:
My Lady, guide my thoughts. Let them lead always closer to you.
At the South:
Gracious Goddess, guide my actions. Let them always help and never
harm others or myself.
At the West:
Lovely One, guide my emotions: Let them be healing and touched
always by you.
At the North:
Sweet Goddess, let my mind always be fertile and storng, that I may
grow always toward you.
Return to the East to complete the circle and say:
Queen of Heaven, I thank you for your presence, both now and always.
My love and devotion are yours. Blessed be!
All spirits who have joined me tonight may depart, with my love.
Return to your proper places.
Walk again around your circle, but this time counterclockwise, extin-
guishing the quadrant guards as you go, and at the same time, mentally
erasing the white line which surrounded your circle. When the candles
are out and the circle gone, rap on your altar and say:
The rite is ended.
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